1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of methods of applying liquid and semi-liquid coatings to surfaces and, more particularly, to a method of applying a cementitious material to a mortar joint.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Traditionally, cementitious material has been applied to mortar joints by the use of a conventional brush: e.g., a brush having a wooden handle and bristles all extending in the same direction from the handle in a manner similar to a conventional paint brush. However, when the conventional brush is dipped in a cementitious coating material and then drawn or stroked across a mortar joint, the bristles are bent by the drawing motion, thereby allowing individual bristles to roam rather freely in different directions, depending on the irregularity of the surface and the steadiness of the user's hand, just as the bristles of a conventional paint brush bend when applying paint. Thus, there is a thicker coating where the brush is first applied and also where the contour of the mortar joints and brick slightly bulges toward the user because of irregularities in the original wall surface. Conversely, where the wall falls slightly away, the coating becomes thinner. Consequently, there is produced a series of irregular cementitious coating lines, similar to the irregular bulges and thin lines produced when "cutting" window sash with a conventional paint brush. Furthermore, when the bristles of a conventional mortar brush are bent by the drawing motion, they assume varying lengths, whereby, when they jump out of the groove of the mortar joint, they contact, and thereby coat, the adjacent brick surfaces which are not supposed to be coated. To avoid this undesirable and unsightly uneveness of the applied coating, some persons have gone to the extreme of masking the bricks in order to assure a neat and even application of a protective coat of cementitious material to the mortar joint, but such a technique is extremely expensive and time-consuming.
Thus, there is a long standing need in the art for an improved method for applying to a mortar joint a cementitious coating which has the neat and even appearance of this tedious masking technique. The improved method should be simple and inexpensive and not require special training or special artistic skill of the user.